Up From Eugenics: UMaine Beryl Warner Williams Hall Dedication
Up From Eugenics: UMaine Beryl Warner Williams Hall Dedication on April 28th
Up From Eugenics: Beryl Warner Williams Hall replaces Clarence Cook Little Hall. Two years in the making, the dedication will be a multidimensional celebration of Black Joy. Join the celebration of this historic event in UMaine history on April 28th, in person or online.
In the spring of 2021, the University of Maine System Board of Trustees voted to change the name of C.C. Little Hall to Beryl Warner Williams Hall. A special committee of faculty, staff, as well as current and past students, and Williams’ descendants co-created the redesign of the building to recognize the legacy of Beryl Warner Williams and joyfully center the experience of Maine’s Black Community, without concealing the horrific history of the University’s historical role as an educational leader in the Eugenics Movement.
Clarence Cook Little Hall
The Third National Conference on Race Betterment was held January 1928 at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, under the planning and presiding of Clarence C. Little, president of the University of Michigan. “The subject matter was divided into twelve sections, including heredity and eugenics, crime and sterilization, immigration and man, etc.”(“Race Betterment Foundation”, 2022)
As President of the American Eugenics Society, he was a leader who encouraged the forced sterilization of People of Color, in addition to, people who were categorized as “disabled,” “insane,” “impoverished,” or “criminal.” Between 1913 and 1930 the University of Maine offered courses on Eugenics, and employed numerous leading scholars in the field.
The ceremony will be attended by the descendants of Beryl Warner Williams, and the program will include notable Black Mathematicians, Poets, Artists, Musicians, and descendants of Bangor’s Black Community:
Dr. Leon C. Woodson, Professor of Mathematics at Morgan State University, Executive Secretary Emeritus of the National Association of Mathematics
Rachael Keri Williams, Beryl Warner Williams Hall Visionary Thought Leader, Descendant Historian, Artist, Author, Founder & Executive Director of SOAL: SavingOurAncestorsLegacy. Beryl’s Granddaughter.
Eve Elizabeth Williams, Unfiltered, Award-Winning Poet. Pubs. include AfroPunk, SonofBaldwin, KinfolkKollective, Peach Mag, Sun Magazine. Beryl’s Granddaughter.
MYQ Farrow, is a Singer-Songwriter, street performer and reluctant poet. “Music is a joy, it is a revolutionary act, so joy is revolutionary.” Founder & Lead of FARROW— P-Funk, Jam, R&B/Soul & Old-School Folk– Albums: Agitate, Educate.
Nancy Dymond, is a Bangor Native. She is the first Maine-born African American to earn a degree in Education from UMaine to teach in Maine. She has been involved in community theater for 30 years.
Dr Scott Warner Williams Blacksmith, Publisher, Poet & Author, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University at Buffalo, recipient of Ford Foundation, Fulbright, & NSF awards, African Americans of the Diaspora author, who has given over 85 invited lectures, colloquia, and seminars at 58 institutions in 8 countries. Beryl’s son.
Remarks by UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy
The post-ceremony reception in the atrium will unveil:
The first public art installation on campus: two large-scale murals by Black Artists, Rachel Gloria & Ryan Adams of Portland, Maine in tribute to Williams and a celebration of Black Heritage in Maine.
A multimedia kiosk was created to bring Beryl’s life into perspective. Kacie Bond, New Media and Professor Michael Scott, MS ASAP Media Lab Director at UMaine.
Beryl Elisabeth Warner (1914-1999) was born and raised in Bangor, Maine. She was UMaine’s second Black Female student to earn an undergraduate degree, receiving a BA in Mathematics and minors in English and Music in 1935; an M.A. in Mathematics in 1940, and an Honorary Doctorate from UMaine in 1972.
After receiving her Master’s Degree, she was barred from teaching in Maine, because Black people were not allowed to teach at the elementary or secondary level. So, Williams was forced to move to find employment in New Orleans, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and out west. She began building networks, teaching in Black schools and colleges across the country.
- She met Dr. Roger Kenton Williams, of Harrisburg, PA, at Claflin College. After becoming the first Black person to earn a Psychology Ph.D. from Penn State, Dr. Williams established Morgan State University’s Psychology Department. They married in 1942 and had one son.
- Although she began her career at Morgan State with only a part-time job, Beryl went on to lead the development of the evening, summer and extension programs; found the Center for Continuing Education; and became Morgan’s first female academic dean. While at Morgan she also led the Desegregation of Baltimore Public Schools, and served on the Baltimore Public Schools Board of Commissioners for ten years (1974-1984), as President and Vice-President.
- As a musician and artist, she played cello and piano as a volunteer and to pay for college; later she played with the Baltimore Orchestra. Her textile art was exhibited at the Little Black Museum, the Enoch Pratt Library, and other places.
- Dr. Williams was a champion of Black History and Art, Africa and her students.
- She also contributed and, or led numerous other national and international causes through her work with—Delta Sigma Theta, the NAACP, Black Museums, establishing Baltimore-Gbaranga, Liberia as Sister Cities, and the National Association of Negro Women.
- Beryl championed oral history projects, mutual aide networks, and free lifetime learning programs for the elderly, until her death.
Beryl Warner Williams Hall at the University of Maine will be dedicated in a ceremony on April 28, 2023, beginning at 2 p.m. in 130 Williams Hall, followed by a reception in the atrium. To attend, RSVP online at our.umaine.edu/williams. The event also will be livestreamed: umainefoundation.org/live. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact William Biberstein, 207.581.4091.
If you would like to join us in person, please contact Rachael Keri Williams, if you have any difficulty registering.
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